Net Technologies, Net Gain: An Institutional and Micro-Structural

Approach to Understanding Technology Use for Collective Action

Carol Soon Institute of Policy Studies

National University of Singapore Email: carol.soon@nus.edu.sg

Study of collective action

§  Contentious politics §  “Episodic, public, collective interaction among makers of claims

and their objects when (a) at least one government is a claimant, an object of claims, or a party to the claims and (b) the claims would, if realized, affect the interests of at least one of the claimants” (McAdam, Tarrow & Tilly, 2001)

§  Political economy – institutional opportunities and constraints (Coston, 1998; Della Porta, 1995)

§  Micro-structural analyses – roles of collective and selective incentives (Klandermans, 1984, 1993; Klandermans & Oegema, 1987; McAdam & Paulsen, 1993; Snow, Zurcher & Ekland-Olson, 1980)

§  Political participation and Internet studies – democratization potential of ICTs (Bosch, 2010; Langlois, Elmer, McKelvey & Devereaux, 2009; Stein, 2007)

The Singapore context

Liberalization of spaces

Impact on collective incentives, structural proximity and structural availability

Authoritarian governance (Institutional constraints and opportunities – Societies Act and Public Order Act)

Adopters of user-generated platforms and social media (e.g. blogs and Facebook)

Offline space: The Speakers’ Corner (2000)

Liberalization of the online space

§  Economy underwent a major shift in the 1990s §  Among top 10 economies in the world for active-mobile

broadband subscriptions (International Telecommunication Union, The World in 2011)

§  Control through legislation: Internet Code of Practice and the Class License Scheme

§  Government’s attempt to strike a balance between “illiberal political interventions with market-oriented strategies for economic growth” + the architecture of the Internet soon created loopholes (George, 2003).

Research Objective

§  How have digital technologies enabled activists to overcome constraints posed by the institutional context?

§  Specifically, how have the digital technologies enable activists to overcome barriers to collective incentives, structural availability and structural proximity?

Use of digital

technologies Collective incentives

Structural availability

Structural proximity

Institutional constraints

Interviews

§  Population list identified through commercial search engines and blog aggregators

§  Snowballing leading to 224 political blogs

§  In-depth interviews (22 males and 4 females)

-  What does “activism” mean

to you” -  Can you describe your involvement?

-  What roles do Internet

technologies play in your

activism work? -  How do you use

Internet technologies in your activism

work?

Digital bottom-up movements Alternative   Redemptive  

Change opinions pertaining to a specific issue among a target group

Pink Dot.sg

To eradicate prejudice targeted at the LGBT and promote an accepting and harmonious society

Slut Walk

Raise awareness for the problem of sexual harassment of women and bring about opinion change on victim-blaming  

Bring about a dramatic change in the lives of individuals belonging to a specific group

Lehmann Brothers and Minibonds Seek compensation for investors who lost money in Lehmann-linked

structured products

Internal Security Act (ISA) campaign To raise awareness for ISA detainees and their experiences; and call

for the abolition of the Internal Security Act  

Reformative   Revolutionary  

Change an entire community or society in a specific way

“No to 6.9 million people” Petition for the government to reconsider its population policy

roadmap, specifically on curbing immigration flow

No to Rape Advocate the total abolition of marital rape immunity

in Sections 375(4) and 376(5).

Repeal 377A Petition the government to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalizes sex between mutually consenting adult men

Anti-Mandatory Death Penalty campaign

To seek legislative changes to the death penalty for drug-related offenses and repeal sentences of those on death row (prominently

Yong Vui Kong)  

Eradicate an old social order and replace it with a new one

Nil  

Blogging and collective incentives §  Clear vision and purpose for Singapore and

for blogging §  Similar motivations for blogging and part of

a larger collective working towards a common goal

§  Tacit acknowledgment that on their own, they did not have the answers or solutions to political and social issues existing in Singapore

I can identify with some Singapore bloggers whose

blogs are mainly socio-politically oriented.. These bloggers have the same

concerns as I have about the current state of politics in

Singapore and the future of the country. (Daryl, male,

early 20s, student)

I see myself as part of a collective socio-political blogging community that is collectively informing Singaporeans of what’s going on. I’ve seen the level of discourse going up since I’ve started. (George, male, early 30s, technology consultant)

Increased structural proximity §  Connecting to others whom they may not

have had a chance to meet offline §  An activist’s blog also served as an

effective vehicle to inform others about his cause, encouraging fellow Internet users involved in similar campaigns to come forward and connect with him.

My blog used to be hosted on Multiply. The Online Citizen (a

citizen journalism blog) contacted me to ask me to write for them. In the same week, V5 messaged me on Multiply telling me about an event and said that I may be interested to join. (Rachel,

female, late 20s)

I got involved in the death penalty cause through the Internet. Alan posted that M Ravi needs help with the case on Facebook. I saw the post and sent Alan a message which said “if M Ravi needs help, ask him to call me”. He called me the next day. That was a connection made through the Internet. I also didn’t know people from Bloggers 13. We read one another’s blogs and then finally we meet one day. (Harry, male, early 20s, law student)

Increased structural availability §  Enabling activists to circumvent real world

constraints posed by their individual commitments.

§  The ease of connection and relatively low cost increased the ease and speed with which activists could converge, pool their resources and work as a team to realize their activist goals – lower barriers to participation.

We just had one meeting before we came up with our paper, just that one face-to-face meeting, and after that

everything after that was done over emails. (George, male, early 30s, technology

consultant)

A typical thing I might be asked to help with would be to take a look at press release on how to write it better for any groups that need advice. Without the Internet, if someone were to call me and say, “I have this one-page document which I would like you to go over,” I would have to stand by a fax machine. If they don’t trust the fax and you have to have a physical meeting, there would be a very high chance that you would say “No” because you are busy. Now the automatic response would be to say “Yes.” They just email it to you and you can look at it at midnight after you have done everything else. (Chong, male, mid 40s, academic)

Conclusion

§  Activist bloggers use Internet technologies such as blogs and social media to overcome limitations and constraints present in the institutional environment

§  The experiences and outcomes of blogging affirm bloggers’ conviction pertaining to its positive impact in contributing to civic discourse and pushing for change

§  The World Wide Web becoming a proxy “meeting place” in a regime where the regulation of offline discourse diminish individuals’ willingness to engage in political talk and meetings

§  Activist bloggers also overcome limitations of structural availability as Internet technologies provide time saving and cost-effective means for the coordination of activism work

§  Importance of online-based groups in providing an alternative form of organization

§  Although somewhat transient in nature, digital bottom-up movements induct fledgling activists and connect them to the larger network of activists

Thank you.

Email: carol.soon@nus.edu.sg

Bloggers and activism participation

Activities

Freq(%) Donated money to organization

32

Wrote a letter

50

Signed a petition

68

Attended a meeting

62

Attended a rally or protest demonstration

40

Participated in an information campaign for the public

52

Advertised in the mass media

8

Made a presentation to a public body

24

Gave a lecture to schools or organizations

20

Participated in press release or conference

32

Served as a representative on an advisory board

16

Purchased merchandize

32

Wrote or called the media

42

Displayed a banner or sign on website or blog

52

Others

22

A wide spectrum

of activism – alternative and

reformative movements

(Locher, 2002) e.g. SinQSA, TWC2, Repeal

377A, Singapore Anti-

Mandatory Death Penalty